Thurman Brooks Morris

My paternal grandfather Thurman Brooks Morris had a tough road to travel to become a minister.  I wish that I had thought to actually ask him about the details of his early years when he was alive because what I will relate comes from stories I heard my father tell mixed with details that I gathered from genealogical research.  What I found caused me to become even more impressed with my grandfather.

My father had always said that grandpa had to take on the role of the head of the family early in his life, but I didn't really know how early.  When I finally knew the age when his father, my great grandfather, Walter Morris died, I could put into perspective the story that my father told.  You see, Walter Morris came down with smallpox, a year after my grandfather's brother Franklin was born.  Adeline Morris, Walter's wife, became a widow at age 27 with three children: my grandfather who was age 10, his brother Durward was 5, and of course Franklin was just one year old.  Addie, as she was known; had been home with the boys.  She hadn't worked outside the home.

Thankfully, her father William Brooks willingly took Addie and boys into his home.  For a time they relied on William for their income.  He worked at a factory until he died at age 74.  In the last few years of his life, my grandfather took odd jobs to help out the family.  As a teenager, he was going to school and working full time.

Because my grandfather was then the breadwinner, he had to not only hold a job, but he also began to go to school at Taylor College.  I have no idea how it happened, but sometime in those years, he met my grandmother Mary Hollingsworth.  In the years before Addie passed away in 1930, Durward and Franklin were joined by my father and Uncle Johnny.  I honestly don't know how my grandfather did it all!

Durward married and moved on to be a salesman.  Soon after he moved out, Addie died leaving my grandparents to be the parents to my father and uncle as well as a teenager, Franklin.  By this time, grandpa was a minister and had his first church in Larwill, Indiana.   Thought it was during the Depression, he still helped Franklin get into college.

My father loved to tell the stories of Larwill.  It was his youth.  It was the Depression.  It was a church that my grandfather had to build from the ground up.  One of my father's favorite stories was how my grandfather was paid in those days.  Seldom was there ever money in the plate when it was passed.  But their were notes.  "I will bring a chicken by this week."  "I hope you like peach pie, I can bring one on Monday."  The family never went hungry, but they really didn't have money.  Clothes were donated to the family.  If they needed to go anywhere, someone in the church would transport them.

On the other hand, my father and uncle didn't make it easy for my grandparents most of the time.  On more than one occasion, my father would say "Johnny and I were the perfect example of preacher's kids."    I remember one story that involved the train that went through Larwill every day.  The parsonage that was provided for them was a block away.  They  loved to see what the train could smash as it went past them.  It was a watermelon that had been left by a member of the congregation that day.  As they were hiding behind a bush to see the result of their plan, my grandfather came up behind them.  They never saw the smash because it didn't happen, but they did learn that a minister can deliver stern discipline.

Grandpa's success in Larwill caught the attention of the Methodist Church.   From Larwill he was assigned to churches in Marion, Redkey, New Haven, Kokomo, and Fort Wayne.  And after that he was named as district superintendent in Muncie.  Thinking he was retiring,  he then took the position as chaplain at Parkview Hospital.  Finally, he helped to start a new church Good Shepard which today
has a large congregation.

That was his career.  He was recognized often for his sermons, the personal care that he gave each and every parishioner,  the leadership he provided wherever he went,  and the fact that he was always available to them. Taylor College bestowed upon him an honorary doctorate recognizing that he had distinguished himself in his field.

What I remember is a man who bought a one room cottage that he was able to purchase as a possible retirement home since he never lived in a home that he owned all those years that he was a minister.  Then, with his own hands, he built two more rooms onto the house, so that my family and my aunts, uncles, and cousins could have a place to stay at the lake.  Later, he sold that cottage to buy a nicer one that was on the lakefront.

Mostly,  I remember a man who loved to fish and took me and my father out on the boat and taught me how to fish.  I remember a man who loved to bring the family together as often as possible.  I remember the special time that I alone had with him, my father, and my uncle Johnny when they would invite me to play golf with them.

Ironically, fate did not let him enjoy his lake house in retirement.  In fact, he sold it and bought a small home in Fort Wayne, grandma died quite suddenly due to a stroke, and even though he remarried, we all felt that he died of a broken heart from missing my grandmother who had shared his journey.  After his death, Parkview Hospital named a scholarship for nurses in his name.